Weft-replenishing mechanism for double-shuttle looms



June 24, 1930. s, STEWART ET AL ,766,729

wEFT REPLENISHING MEGHANISM FOR DOUBLE SHUTTLE LooMs ed Jan. 5l, 1929'7' Sheets-Sheen?, l

une 24, 1930.. s, STEWART ET' AL 1,766,729

WEFT REPLENISHING MECHANISM FOR DOUBLE SHUTTLE LOOKS Filed Jan. 5l,19,29

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AJM* 4770/?/1/3/5 June 24, 1930.

WEFT 'REPLENISHING MECHANISM FOR DOUBLE SHUTTLE LOOMS lll Filed Jan. 3l,1929 '7 Sheets-Sheen; 5

rroFP/vey 3mm@ 245 1930. s. STEWART ET Ax. 1,766,729

WEFT REPLENISHING MECHANISM FOR DOUBLE SHUTTLE LOOMS 7 Sheets-Sheet 4fm-Mu June 24, 1930. s, STEWART ET AL 1,766,729

WEFT REPLENISHING MECHANISM FOR DOUBLE SHUTTLE LOOMS Filed Jan. 3l, 19297 Sheets-Sheet 5 June 24, 1930.

S. STEWART ET l- WEFT REPLENXSHING MECHANISM FOR DOUBLE SHUTTLE LoomsFiled Jan. 3l, 1929 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 JZ S/MEN Of f oy SAMUEL.

/7 rfa/PNE VS s. STEWART ET AL 1,766,729

WEFT REPLENISHING MECHANISM FOR DOUBLE SHUTTLE LOOMS Filed Jan. 3l, 1929'7 Sheets-Sheet '7 Patented June 24, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICESAMUEL STEWART, MILFORD L. ALLEN, AND SIMEON O. ROY, OF LEWISTON, MAINE,

ASSIGNORS TO CROMPTON & KNOWLES LOOM WORKS, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHU-SETTS, A. CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS WEFT-REPLENISHING MECHANISM FOB.DOUBLE-SHUTTLE LOMS Application led January 31, 1929. Serial No.336,627.

In the preferred form of our invention,

each shuttle enters the upper box on one side of the loom and the lowerbox on the opposite side of the loom, and the weft detector for eachshuttle is continuously associated with the upper box used by saidshuttle and rises and falls therewith.

An important feature of our invention relates to the provision ofimproved means by which an indication of weft exhaustion at front centerwill effect weft carrier transfer as the indicated shuttle next movesrearward and approaches back center.

Our invention further relates to arrangements and combinations of partswhich will be hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out inthe appended claims..

A preferred form of the invention is shown in the drawings in which Fig.lis a plan view of portions of a loom embodying our improvements;

Fig. 2 is a left hand side elevation there. if, partly in section, andlooking in the direc- 40 tion of the arrow 2 in Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevation of certain parts shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a detailed sectional plan view, taken along the lined-4 inFig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a plan view ofone of the shuttle boxes and its' associatedweft detecting mechanism;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail front elevation,.

.boxes and box lifting mechanism at the leit hand side of the loom;

Fig. 9 is a detail sectional side elevation, taken along the line 9-9 inFig. 8;

Fig. 10 1s a right hand side elevation of the left hand weft carriermagazine, looking in the direction of the arrow 10 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 1l is a view similar to Fig.l 10 but shpwing the parts in adifferent position; an

Figs. 12 to 18 are diagrammatic views, illustrating the flights of thedifferent shuttlesvand their position at different points in the cycleof movements of the lay.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, we have shown parts of a loom including loomsides 20, a breast beam 2l and a lay 22 mounted upon the usual layswords 23 (Fig. 8) and swinging with a rock shaft 24. Drop boxes 26(Figs. 8 and 9) are mounted to slide vertically in guideways 27 and 28at the left hand end of the lay 22, and similar boxes 30 (Fig.

12) are provided at the right hand end of A the lay 22.

The drop lboxes 26 and 30 are mounted on the usual lifter rods 32 (Figs.2 and 8), each of which is supported in a caring 33 on the rock shaft 24and each of which lis connected by a giveway link 35 to a stud 36 in alifting lever 37. The lifting levers are actuated by cams (not shown) onthe bottom or cam shaft of the loom and move the boxes alter- 'natelyupward and downward by the space of two boxes at each alternate pick ofthe loom. i

The parts are soV timedthat one set of boxes will be in its loweredposition whenever the other set of boxes is in its raised position. As aresult of this timing, a shuttle icked from the lower box on either sideof t e loom is always received in the upper box on the opposite side ofthe loom, an a shuttle picked from an upper box on either side of theloom is always received in the lower box on the opposite side of theloom.

In the diagrammatic views (Figs. 12 to 18), the magazines and shuttleshave been marked with the letters Y and B (indicating yellow and blue)for purposes of identification and it will be noted that the yellowlshuttle is always received in the upper box on the left hand side of theloom where the yellow magazine is located, while the blue shuttle iscorrespondingly received in the upper box on the right hand side of theloom, where the blue magazine is located. Each magazine is thus enabledto transfer to its corresponding shuttle While said shuttle is in theupper box adjacent the magazine, in which position transfer may bereadil made.

In ig. 1 I have designated the right hand magazine by the numeral andthe left hand magazine by the. numeral 41. Each magazine is or ma be ofa sim le rotary t in which a p urality of we t carriers mrc supportedabout the periphery and in position for transfer by a transferrer 44(Fig. 2) mounted on a fixed pivot 45 rearward of the path of movement ofthe lay 22.

Transfer mechanism.

Each transferrer 44 is provided with a i latch 46 which, when raised tothe dotted line ition shown in Fig. 2, will be engagedmlsiy an actuatingmember 50 xed to the lay 22 and movable rearward therewith. Each latch46 engages a stud 52 mounted on "the upwardly extending arm 53 of alever 54 movable about a fixed pivot 55.

A forwardly extending arm 56 of the lever 54 is provided with a pin orstud 57, extending through a slot 58 in the lower end of a verticalsliding bar 59. A rod 60 is mounted at the side of the bar 59 andextends freely through a recessed portion 61 of the lever arm 56. Aspring 62 surrounds the rod 60 and forces the stud 57 yieldingly to thelower end of the slot 58, thus providing a yielding lost motionconnection between the bar 59 and the lever arm 56, for a purpose to bedescribed The bar 59 extends upward through a stand 64 (Fig. and isprovided with a notch 65, normally engaged by a rear edge portion of alock plate 66, provided with a slot 67 through which extend screws 68.The plate 66 is freely slidable forward and rearward and is heldyieldingly rearward by a tension spring 70.

When the plate 66 is moved forward by detector controlled mechanism tobe described, the bar 59 is released and by its weight moves the leverarm 56 downward, thus raising the latch 46 to the operative dotted linesition shown in Fig. 2.

A spring 17(2) (Fig. 2) may be provided to facilitate the downwardmovement of the4 lever arm 56.

Detecting mechanism.

The detecting mechanism herein shown is of the single contact, side sliptype and is shown somewhat in detail in Figs. 3 to 5, the mechanismbeing substantially duplicated at the two sides of the loom.

At each side, a weft engaging element or detector 8O is secured at therear end of a detector lever 81, mounted to swing about a pivot stud 82and having a forward extension 83 provided with a shoulder 84. The lever81 is yieldingl enga ed by spring plungers 85 which hol the etectorlever normally in the position shown in Fig.

A transmitting member 86 (Fig. 3) is pivoted at 87 on an upwardlyextending racket 88 and hangs freel downward in a position to enga e arear e ge portion of the lock plate 66, w en the member 86 is movedforward. The member 86 is also located in such a position that it isnormally cleared by the shoulder 84 of the detector lever 81, as thedetector lever moves forward on its supporting slide 90, which carriesthe pivot stud 82. The slide 90 is mounted 1n ay stand 91 (Fig. 3) andis forced yieldingly rearward by a coil spring 92.

The detector 80 is so and rearward that it wil weft carrier before frontcenter and will be carried forward a. substantial distance 1positionedforward be engaged by the I on each such engagement. If the detector ismoved forward without slippin sideways, the shoulder 84 will clear theependin member 86, but if side slippa e occurs be ore thel forwardmovement o the detector, the shoulder 84 willA engage the member 86,pushing it forward against the lock plate 66 and forcing the lock plateout of the notch 65 in the bar 59. The bar 59 is then free to drop andis effective, through the connections described, to operatively positionthe latch 46 and cause forward movelnent of the transferrer 44.

Vertical positioning of detectors.

rods 32. As the drop boxes rise and fall, the supports 96'fhavecorresponding vertical movements and each detector 80 is thus maintainedin vertical alignment with the upper drop box with which it isassociated.

Detector protesti/ve device Astransfer can only take place when theshuttle boxes are in 'raised position, it is desirable to give noindication of weft exhaustion except when the boxes are moving upward tosaid raised positionv in which position only transfer is possible.Accordingly we have provided a shield for the purpose of preventingengagement ofthe shoulder 84 on the'detector lever extension 8 3 withthe member 86 if the detector is in raised position' but is movingdownward with the shuttle boxes at the time of indication.

This shield is indicated at 102 (Figs. 6 and 7) and is mounted at theend of a light slide or support 103 slidable in a fixed bearing member104 and forced yieldingly out- Ward by a very light spring 105. Thespring 105 is strong enough, however, to overcome any side-slippingtendency of the weft detector.

Ifan indication is given when t-he boxes are moving downward, the frontend 83 of the-detector lever will be substantially in the'positionindicated in dotted lines in Fig. 6, 'opposite the shield member 102,and will be prevented thereby from moving sideways to engage thetransmitting member 86 and cause movement of the plate 66 to release thebar 59.

If, however, the boxes are moving upward at the time of indication, theend 83 ofthe detecting lever will be in the full line position shown inFig. 6, below the shield 102,

and will thus be free to move sideways andV to engage the member 86 andrel'ease the bar 59 before the boxes have been shifted to causeengagement of the shield 102 by the lever end 83.

When the shield is thereafter engaged by the upward movement of thefeeler, the shield will be pushed laterally out of the path of movementthereof. By this provision of the shield, the effective operation of theweft detector is limited to such times as the boxes are moving upwardtoward transfer position.

Reference to Figs. 2 and 9 will show that while we have provided threecell drop boxes, only the upper and lower cells are used to receive theshuttles. A deflector plate 110 is mounted in the middle cell to guidethe ejected weft carrier forward to a position where it may drop freely.

Revo/ving mechanism In. Figs. 10 and 11, we have shown the mechanismwhich we have prpvided for revoking the transfer if the shuttle is notproperly boxed. For this purpose, each latch positioning lever arm 53 isextended upward and is provided with a stud 120 engaging the dependingarm of a bell crank 121 mounted on a fixed pivot 122 and having a pinand slot connection with a lever 123 pivoted at 124 on the` magazineframe.

At its forward end the lever 123 has a stud 125 on which a block 126 isloosely pivoted. The block 126 is slidable in a slot 127 1n an arm 128pivoted at 129 and angularly movable with a second arm 130 to which therevoking member 131 is secured. A spring 132 forces the block 126yieldingly outward in the slot 127, thus providing a spring actuatedtoggle joint.

When the parts are moved to the position shown in Fig. 11, with thelatch 46 in position for engagement, the rovoker 131 is swung downwardthrough a slot 135 (Fig. 5) in the top of the corresponding box plate.

If the shuttle is properly boxed, as indicated in Fig. 5, the revokerwill swing freely downward and the latch 46 will be moved upward toengaging position.

After transfer, the revoker 131 will be moved upward by engagement withthe back box pll'ate as the lay moves forward and will act t rough thearms 53 and 56 of the lever 54 to raise the bar 59 and re-set the samein indicating position.

If for any reason the upward movement of the bar is prevented, the stud57 will move freely upward in the slot 58, thus preventing breakage ofparts.

If the shuttle does not fully enter the shuttle box and obstructs themovement of the revoker 131, the latch 46 will remain below engagingposition and no transfer will occur.

The weft detecting mechanism and connections at the two sides of theloom are substantially identical, except for reversal as to hand, andeach detector operates entirely with its associated magazine and withone only of the two shuttles, which shuttle always occupies the upperbox when adjacent its magazine and detector.

Operation Referring now to Figs. 12 to 18, we will describe thesuccessive positions of the shuttles during a cycle of movement of thelay.

In Fig. 12, the lay 22 is at front center with the left hand box 26moving upward and the right hand box 30 moving do wn.,

Fig. 14 indicates the position of the parts at back center, with theshuttle B still in Hight and with the shuttle Y receiving a fresh bobbinif weft exhaustion has been indicated.

Fig. 15 indicates the position of the parts at bottom center, with theshuttle B` fully boxed, but with the boxes in the same posi tionindicated in Fig. 14.

In Fig. 16, the lay has returned to front center, with the boxes 26moving downward and the boxes 30 moving upward.

In Fig. 17, the lay has again reached top center but with the boxesexactly reversed from Fig. 13 and with the yellow shuttle beginning itsHight while the blue shuttle is 1n extreme raised position.

Fig. 18 indicates the position of the parts when the lay again reachesback center, with the shuttle Y still in flight and with the shuttle Breceiving a fresh bobbin if transfer has been indicated.

The further movement oi' the parts to bottom and front centers bringsthem back to the position indicated in Fig. 12 and will be readilyunderstood.

Briefly summarized, our improved loom includes two single color rotarymagazines, which we may call yellow7 and blue, one at each of the twosides of the loom, and two shuttles (also yellow and blue) are soactuated that each shuttle will always be in the top box when adjacentits corresponding ma azine.

hen thus positioned, indication of weft exhaustion takes place at frontcenter, and if transfer is indicated, the transfer occurs on the ensuinmovement of the shuttle with the la tobac center.

Enc shuttle is picked from its upper box to the opposite lower box andthen back to its upper box, with an idle pick after each single Hight.It is during the idle pick in the u per box that the weft detection andtransfer of weft carriers takes place.

During this idle pick, the upper box containing the idle shuttle alwaysmoves upward at front center, and the shields 102 permit indicationduring auch movement but prevent it when the upper box contains theactive shuttle and is moving downward at front center, with the shuttleabout to be picked.

As a particular shuttle is always in the same upper box during weftdetection and transfer, the corresponding weft detector is permanentlyassociated with said upper box and rises and falls therewith, thusgiving substantially more time for weft detecting and indication than issometimes the case in other types of looms.

Having thus described our invention and the advantages thereof, we donot wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed otherwise than asset forth in the claims, but what we do claim is 1. A weft replenishingloom having, in combination, a lay, a set of shifting shuttle boxes ateach end of the lay, a weft carrier magazine associated with each set ofshuttle boxes, a pair of shuttles, mechanism to piek each shuttle backand forth between the top box on one side of the loom and a lower box onthe other side of the loom, weft detecting means operative to indicatesubstantial weft exhaustion as a shuttle in a top shuttle box approachesfront center, and means to transfer a weft carrier from thecorresponding magazine as the lay next approaches back center afterindication. of weft exhaustion.

2. A weft replenishing loom having, in combination, a lay, a set ofshifting shuttle boxes at each end of the lay, a weft carrier magazineassociated with each set of shut- .tle boxes, a pair of shuttles,mechanism to pick each shuttle back and forth between the top box on oneside of the loom and a lower box on the other side of the loom, a weftdetector associated with each top shuttle box, andmeans to transfer aweft carrier from the associated magazine to a shuttle in said top boxupon indication of substantial weft exhaustion in said shuttle by theassociated detector and before the next fiight of said shuttle.

3. The combination in a loom as set forth in claim 2, in which means isprovided for moving said weft detectors vertically to maintain each inalignment with its associated top shuttle box.

4. The combination in a loom as set forth in claim 2, in which saidtransfer means is operated as the lay next approaches back center afterindicaion of weft exhaustion.

5. In a weft rep enishing loom, a set of shifting shuttle boxes, a weftdetector associated with the top box of said set and operative to givean indication while the associated boxes are moving vertically,controlling means eective to render said detector operative uponsubstantial weft exhaustion when the boxes are rising, and a. device torender said controlling means inoperative when the boxes are movingdownward.

6. In a weft replenishing loom, a set of shifting shuttle boxes, a weftdetector associated with the top box of said set and operative to givean indication while the associated boxes are moving vertically,controlling means effective to render said detectoroperative uponsubstantial weft exhaustion when the boxes are rising, and a shieldeffective to prevent actuation by said detecting means while said boxesare moving downward.

7. A weft replenishing loom having, in combination, a lay, a set ofshifting shuttle boxes at each end of the lay, a weft carrier magazineassociated with each set of shuttle boxes, a pair of shuttles, mechanismto pick each shuttle back and forth between the top box on one side ofthe loom and a lower box on the other side of the loom, each shuttleremaining at rest in its top box for one full pick, and means to detectweft exhaustion and to cause a wett carrier to be transferred from thevcorresponding magazine during a single rest period.

8. In a weft replenishing drop box loom, a lay having a. plurality ofshifting shuttle boxes at the replenishing end thereof, a magazine,atranserrer, a latch therefor, an engagging member on said lay for saidlatch, and weft controlled means for moving said latch to position forengagement by said member as the lay moves rearward, whereby weftreplenishment will be eected in one of said shifting shuttle boxessubstantially at back center.

9. In a double shuttle loom having two sets of shifting shuttle boxes,means to de tec-t weft exhaustion in the top box of either set at frontcenter, and means to l transfer a weft carrier thereto at theimmediately ensuing approach of the shuttle boxes to back center.

10. In a double shuttle loom having two sets of shifting shuttle boxes,means to detect weft exhaustion in the top box of either setI at frontcenter when said boxes are moving .upward only, and means to transfer aweft carrier thereto When said boxes next approach back center andimmediately after detection.

In testimony whereof ailixed our signatures.

SAMUEL STEWART. MILFORD L. ALLEN. SIMEON O. ROY.

we have hereunto

